MRFF National Critical Research Infrastructure Initiative - 2024 Clinical Trial Enabling Infrastructure

This grant program is aimed at advancing clinical trial methodologies and infrastructure to improve medical research efficiency and health outcomes.

Objectives:

• Promote development and implementation of adaptive platform and registry-based clinical trials, which offer more efficient evaluation of medical therapies compared to conventional trial designs.
• Support projects addressing areas of unmet medical need through innovative clinical trial infrastructure.
• Strengthen sector capability and collaboration in clinical trials to embed evidence-based care in the health system.

Target Beneficiaries:

• Australian medical research institutes, universities, corporate Commonwealth entities, and corporations (including businesses and not-for-profits) incorporated in Australia with an ABN.
• Early to mid-career researchers must constitute at least 20% of Chief Investigators.
• Ineligible applicants include individuals, partnerships, unincorporated associations, trusts (unless incorporated trustee), non-corporate Commonwealth entities, and organizations non-compliant with certain legal and ethical standards.

Key Features:

• Funding available across three streams:
  1. Stream 1: Adaptive platform trials with three topics:
     • Topic A (Incubator): Up to $300,000 for inception projects demonstrating feasibility.
     • Topic B: Up to $5,000,000 for establishing new national adaptive platform trials.
     • Topic C: Up to $3,000,000 for expanding existing adaptive platform trials.
  2. Stream 2: Up to $1,500,000 for registry-based randomized controlled trials embedded in existing clinical registries.
  3. Stream 3: Up to $7,000,000 for establishing or extending clinical trial practice networks to enhance capability and collaboration.
• Total funding pool of $35.7 million AUD.
• Open competitive selection process.
• Applications must be submitted online via https://business.gov.au/mrff-2024ctei.
• Application deadline: July 17, 2025, 5:00 pm ACT time.

Application Process:

• Applicants submit proposals to one of the three streams.
• Multiple applications allowed per organization per stream, with restrictions on individual Chief Investigator submissions.
• Applications assessed on eligibility, alignment with objectives, and capacity to address unmet medical needs.

Contact and support are available via phone (13 28 46) and email (CTEI@industry.gov.au).